Power MOSFET device structure for high frequency applications

ABSTRACT

This invention discloses a new switching device supported on a semiconductor that includes a drain disposed on a first surface and a source region disposed near a second surface of said semiconductor opposite the first surface. The switching device further includes an insulated gate electrode disposed on top of the second surface for controlling a source to drain current. The switching device further includes a source electrode interposed into the insulated gate electrode for substantially preventing a coupling of an electrical field between the gate electrode and an epitaxial region underneath the insulated gate electrode. The source electrode further covers and extends over the insulated gate for covering an area on the second surface of the semiconductor to contact the source region. The semiconductor substrate further includes an epitaxial layer disposed above and having a different dopant concentration than the drain region. The insulated gate electrode further includes an insulation layer for insulating the gate electrode from the source electrode wherein the insulation layer having a thickness depending on a Vgsmax rating of the vertical power device.

This Patent Application is a Divisional Application of a co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 13/436,192. Application Ser. No. 13/436,192 is aDivisional Application of application Ser. No. 12/658,450 filed on Feb.9, 2010 now issued into Patent and Application U.S. Pat. No. 8,163,618,and patent application Ser. No. 12/658,450 is a Divisional Applicationof application Ser. No. 11/125,506 filed on May 1, 2005 now issued intoU.S. Pat. No. 7,659,570. The Disclosures made in the patent applicationSer. Nos. 12/658,450 and 11/125,506 are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention disclosed herein relates generally to the deviceconfiguration and fabrication process of semiconductor Switchingdevices. More particularly, this Invention relates to a novel andimproved device configuration and fabrication process for providing highfrequency power switching devices.

2. Description of the Prior Art

As there is an ever growing demand for high frequency switch powerdevices, conventional device configurations and manufacturing processesof power switching devices are still limited by speed-limitingcapacitance between the gate and drain of the power transistors, e.g.,MOSFET and IGBT. There is an urgent need to overcome such limitationsespecially when high frequency switching Power supplies are Providingpower to wide range of electronic devices.

Referring to FIGS. 1A to 1D for conventional techniques wherein FIGS. 1Band 1D show a reduction of the gate-drain capacitance for the typicalplanar and trenched DMOS cell of FIGS. 1A and 1C respectively.Specifically, a terrace gate dielectric layer that is thicker thanregular gate oxide layer is formed under a terrace gate. The gate-draincapacitance is reduced because there is a thicker terrace gate oxidelayer between the gate and the drain. For a trenched DMOS cell shown inFIG. 1D, similarly, a thicker gate oxide layer is formed at the bottomof the trench to reduce the gate-drain capacitance. However, such deviceconfigurations still have problems and limitations. One problem with theterrace gate-oxide design is that the process is not self-aligned;therefore it hard to reduce the cell size. In carrying out the processof forming the terraced gate the terrace dielectric and gate electrodeare subject to lithographic misalignment. The size of the device isincreased due to a requirement to allow for misalignment tolerancebetween the terraced gate and the terrace dielectric layer. A secondproblem for this design is that the thick terrace dielectric layerreduces the accumulation of carrier in the drain area under thedielectric terrace and this increases the Rdson of the device.Furthermore, the reduction of Crss is limited by the thickness of theterrace dielectric. This is especially true for the thick trench bottomoxide approach in trench device where the thick bottom oxide is hard tomake. The increase of oxide thickness in the trench bottom also reducesthe accumulation of carriers in the drain region under the thick oxidehence increase the device on-resistance Rdson.

In another patented invention U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,150, Hshieh et al,disclose a split gate configuration to achieve a purpose of reducing thegate-drain capacitance. The gate of a DMOS cell is split into twosegments as that shown in FIG. 1E. The split gate configuration reducesthe gate-drain capacitance because it eliminates the contribution to thegate-drain capacitance from the gate-drain overlapping areas. It isclear that the split gate configuration disclosed by Hshieh does achievegate-drain capacitance reductions. However, with the split gateconfiguration, there are still some fringing electric field couplingsbetween the gate electrodes to the epitaxial layer connecting to thedrain electrode. Further improvements are still required to eliminatethe fringing capacitance resulted from such couplings between the gateand the drain.

Baliga disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,833 another DMOS cell as thatshown in FIG. 1F to reduce the gate-drain capacitance by placing thesource electrode underneath a trenched gate. There are some shieldingeffects provided by the source electrode underneath the trenched gate.However, similar to a configuration as that shown in FIG. 1E, there arestill fringing capacitance between the gate electrodes and the epitaxiallayer connected to the drain electrode. Therefore, further improvementsare still required to further reduce the gate-drain capacitance suchthat further improvements of high frequency switching performance can beachieved.

Therefore, a need still exists in the art to provide an improved deviceconfiguration and manufacturing methods to provide MOSFET device withfurther reduced gate-drain capacitance such that the above-discussedlimitations as now encountered in the prior art can be resolved.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide, animproved MOSFET device with a reduced gate-drain capacitance by firstreducing the gale-drain overlapping area with a specially configuredgate. The gate is patterned as split gate with interposing bore fordepositing a source metal into the interposing cavity. The gate isfurther insulated with dielectric layer having a predefined thickness toreduce the input and feedback capacitance to prove the transientefficiency for better switching performance.

Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved MOSFET device with a novel configuration by interposing asource metal into a gate electrode for achieving dual purposes ofreducing the overlapping area between the gate and drain and topreventing electric field coupling between the gate and the epitaxiallayer underneath the gate thus significant reduce the gate to draincapacitance. Higher switching speed and reduced transient losses areachieved with the improved switching device disclosed in this invention.

Briefly in a preferred embodiment this invention discloses a verticalpower device supported on a semiconductor that includes a drain disposedon a first surface and a source region disposed near a second surface ofthe semiconductor opposite said first surface. The vertical power devicefurther includes an insulated gate electrode disposed on top of thesecond surface for controlling a source to drain current. A sourceelectrode is interposed into the insulated gate electrode forsubstantially preventing a coupling of an electrical field between thegate electrode and an epitaxial region underneath the Insulated gateelectrode. The source electrode further covers and extends over theinsulated gate for covering an area on the second surface of thesemiconductor to contact the source region. The semiconductor substratefurther includes an epitaxial layer disposed above and having adifferent dopant concentration than the it region. The insulated gateelectrode further includes an insulation layer for insulating the gateelectrode from the source electrode wherein the insulation layer has athickness that is depending on a Vgsmax rating of the vertical powerdevice. In another preferred embodiment, the insulated gate electrodefurther includes an insulation layer for insulating the gate electrodefrom the source electrode and the insulation layer has a greaterthickness surrounding an outer edge of the gate electrode for allowing,an alignment tolerance for etching a contact opening, hi a preferredembodiment, a vertical power device further includes an N-channel MOSFETcell. In another Preferred embodiment, a vertical power device furtherincludes a P-channel MOSFET cell.

This invention further discloses a method for manufacturing to powerMOSFET device. The method includes a step of forming a body region and asource region in a semiconductor followed by depositing a gate layer ontop of the semiconductor. The method further includes a step a applyingmask for patterning a plurality of gates with the mask providing anopening for etching an interposing bore in the gates for allowing alayer of source metal to interpose into the gates. The method furtherincludes a step of depositing a metal layer over a plurality ofpatterned gates followed by a step applying a metal mask for patterninga gate metal and a source metal with the source layer interposing intothe gates.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will nodoubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after havingread the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment,which is illustrated in the various drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a cross sectional view of a basic planar DMOS FET cell.

FIG. 1B is a cross sectional view of a basic planar DMOS FET cell with aterrace gate.

FIG. 1C is a cross sectional view of a basic trenched DMOS FET cell.

FIG. 1D is a cross sectional view of a basic trenched DMOS FET cell witha thick oxide layer at the bottom of the trench.

FIG. 1E is a cross sectional view of a planar MOSFET cell with a splitpolysilicon gate.

FIG. 1F is a cross sectional view of a MOSFET cell with a shieldedtrench gate.

FIG. 2 shows an equivalent circuit of a power MOSFET.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are two alternate cross sectional views of improvedplanar MOSFET with a source electrode penetrating into a spacesurrounded by a polysilicon gate of this invention.

FIGS. 4A to 4E are a series of cross sectional views for illustratingthe processes for manufacturing a MOSFET device of this invention.

FIGS. 5A to 5E are a series of cross sectional views for illustratingalternate processes for manufacturing a MOSFET device of this invention.

FIGS. 6A to 6G are a series of cross sectional views for illustratingalternate processes for manufacturing an alternate MOSFET device of thisinvention.

FIGS. 6D-1 to 6F-1 are a series of cross sectional views forillustrating alternate processes for manufacturing an alternate MOSFETdevice of this invention.

FIGS. 7A to 7G are a series of cross sectional views for illustratingalternate processes for manufacturing another alternate MOSFET device ofthis invention.

FIGS. 7F-1 to 7G-1 are a series of cross sectional views forillustrating alternate processes for manufacturing another alternateMOSFET device of this invention.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are a series of cross sectional views for illustratingalternate processes for manufacturing another alternate MOSFET device ofthis invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD

Referring to FIG. 2 for an equivalent circuit of a MOSFET device Mincludes a gate, drain and source electrodes wherein the gate has a gateresistance Rg and there is an adjustable resistance over the epitaxiallayer and the substrate connected to the drain electrode. A PN diode,e.g., Dbody, is formed across the body layer. There are capacitorsbetween three electrodes, i.e., Cgs between the gate and the source, Cgdbetween the gate and the drain and Cds between the drain and the source.In the power MOSFET parlance, the input capacitance Ciss, feedbackcapacitance Crss and output capacitance Coss are determinate by thefollows:Ciss=Cgd+CgsCrss=CgdCoss=Cds+Crss

The input capacitance Ciss is inversely proportional to the achievablemaximum frequency the MOSFET device can operate. Therefore, in order toincrease the operation frequency, a design approach is to reduce theinput capacitance Ciss.

Furthermore, the input capacitance Ciss and the feedback capacitanceCrss also determine the efficiency of the MOSFET device by affecting thedevice operation characteristics during a switching transient. Highercapacitance increases the switching transient time therefore increasesthe switching loss. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the inputcapacitance and the feedback capacitance.

Referring to FIG. 3A for a planar MOSFET cell 100 as a preferredembodiment of this invention. The MOSFET cell 100 is formed in asemiconductor substrate 101 with a drain region of a first conductivitytype, e.g., an N′ substrate, formed at a bottom surface. The planarMOSFET cell is formed on top of an epitaxial layer 105 of a firstconductivity type, e.g., N-epi-layer that having a lower dopantconcentration than the substrate. A body region 120 of a secondconductivity type, e.g., a P-body 120 is formed in the epi-layer 105 andthe body region 120 encompasses a some region 125 of the firstconductivity type, e.g., N+ source region 125. Each MOSFET cell 100further includes a polysilicon gate 130 disposed on top of a portion ofbody region 120 and extending over a portion of source region 125 and aportion of drain region 110. Furthermore, a gate dielectric layer 135 isformed to surround the gate 130. Alternatively, a first conductivitytype dopant may be implanted into the top EPI region 110 to increasedopant concentration before MOSFET cells are formed. The higher dopantconcentration improves the conductivity of the MOSFET.

Unlike the conventional MOSFET cell, the gate is now formed with splitsegments. Each segment is surrounded by the gate dielectric layer 135.Furthermore, the space between the gate segments 130 that extended abovethe epitaxial layer 105 between the source regions is filled with asource metal layer 140. The source metal 140 is electrically connectedto the source regions 125 and further provide as a shield to shield thegate segments 130 from the epitaxial layer 105. For the purpose offurther reducing the gate-drain capacitance Cgd, the dielectric layer135 is thinned with the source metal 140 introduced between the splitsegments of the gate electrode 130. The fringing field from the gate 130to terminate at the epitaxial layer 105 in the conventional MOSFET cellsas discussed above is now terminated at the source metal 140 nowdisposed between the space extended across the split gate 130. Thesource metal 140 is held at a fixed DC potential in most applicationsthus shielding the gate from the large swings of the drain potential.The value of the Crss is therefore dramatically reduced. As will befurther discussed below, the thick oxide layer 135 surrounding the gate130 as that shown in FIG. 3A is to provide enough alignment tolerancefor opening the contact.

The structure in FIG. 3B employs only a thin inter-layer dielectric(ILD) 135′ to deliberately increase the input capacitances inapplications where a low ratio of Crss/Ciss is desirable, such as insynchronous FETs, or in bridge applications. Thus, not only is the valueof Crss dramatically reduced, but the value of Cgs, and therefore Cissis significantly increased. Unlike the terraced gate dielectric processshown in FIG. 1B where the size of device is limited by the lithographicmisalignment between the terrace dielectric and the gate electrode, thecell structure of FIGS. 3A and 3B does not suffer from this drawback.Furthermore, while the control of gate capacitance depends on thecritical dimensional (CD) control of the terraced oxide and the gateelectrode in the structure of FIG. 1B, control of the gate capacitanceis simplified in this invention. The gate capacitance according to aconfiguration shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B depends only on the dimension ofthe gate electrode. The thickness of the ILD 135 or 135′ between thegate and source metal disposed above the gate and to the left and to theright of the gate is set by the maximum gate-source voltage rating. Thisgate-source voltage rating also sets the minimum gate dielectricthickness. However, this minimum thickness of gate dielectric layer maynot be practical for many high-speed applications because thin oxidelayers increase the capacitance Cgs therefore increase the inputcapacitance Ciss, which eventually decrease the maximum operablefrequency. In FIG. 3B, the minimum ILD thickness is constrained by thequality of the films, grown or deposited, the interface with the gateelectrode, the radius of curvature of the gate electrode top corners,and the interface with the source metal. Therefore, on the one hand, thethickness of the dielectric in the region between the two Polysilicongates and the interposed source electrode suppresses Crss is better whenit is thin. However, this must be balanced against the fact that a thindielectric here raises Ciss and Coss, and is ultimately limited by theVgsmax rating of the device.

According to FIGS. 3A and 3B, and above descriptions, this inventiondiscloses a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET)cell supported on a semiconductor substrate. The MOSFET cell furtherincludes an insulated gate electrode 130 disposed on top of andextending over an epitaxial region 105 of the semiconductor substratesurrounded by a body region 120 of the MOS FET cell 100. The MOSFET cellfurther includes a source electrode 140 interposed into the insulatedgate electrode 130 and disposed above the epitaxial region 110 forsubstantially preventing a coupling of n electrical field between thegate electrode 130 and the epitaxial region 105. In a preferredembodiment, the source electrode 140 further extends over the insulatedgate 135 for contacting a source region 125 encompassed in the bodyregion 120. In a preferred embodiment, the semiconductor substratefurther includes a drain region 105 disposed below and having adifferent dopant concentration than the epitaxial region 105. In anotherpreferred embodiment, the insulated gate electrode 130 furthercomprising an insulation layer 135 for insulating the gate electrode 130from the source electrode 140 wherein the insulation layer 135 having athickness depending on a Vgsmax rating of the MOSFET cell 100. In apreferred embodiment, the insulated gate electrode 130 further includesan insulation layer 135 for insulating the gate electrode 130 from thesource electrode 140 wherein the insulation layer 135 having greaterthickness surrounding an outer edges of the gate electrode for allowingan alignment tolerance for etching a contact opening. In a preferredembodiment, the MOSFET cell 100 further comprises an N-channel MOSFETcell. In a preferred embodiment, the MOSFET cell 100 further comprises achannel MOSFET cell.

Referring to FIGS. 4A to 4E for a basic “poly first” processing stepsfor fabrication of a thin MOSFET. In FIG. 4A, the fabrication processstarts by growing an initial oxide layer 115 on a top surface of N-epilayer 105 which is in turn grown on a N+ substrate (not shown). Anactive mask is applied to etch a portion of the oxide layer 115 todefine an active area followed by an N-type JFET (junction field effecttransistor) ion implant, e.g., an arsenic implant, and applying anelevated temperature to drive down the N region 110 into the EPI 105. InFIG. 4B, a gate oxide layer 135 is at first. Then, a polysilicon layer130 is formed followed by applying a poly mask to define a plurality ofpolysilicon gate 130 on the top surface. In FIG. 4C, a body implant withP-type ions is carried out followed by a body diffusion for driving theP-body region 120 with an elevated temperature. In FIG. 4D, a sourcemask is applied to carry out an N-type ion source implant followed bysource diffusion to form the N+ source regions 125. The N+ implant anddrive processes may be carried out either with or without a mask. A Maskmay be used to pattern the N+ area within the cell, and keep it awayfrom the device periphery. In FIG. 4E, an inter-layer dielectric layer135′, e.g., a BPSG layer, is deposited on the top surface followed byapplying a special contact mask to can out a contact etch to removespecific portions of the inter-layer dielectric layer 135′. A metallayer 140 is then deposited on top followed by applying a metal mask fordefining the source metal 140 and the gate metal 150 respectively. Ametal alloy or silicidation of contacts can be applied preceding thisstep. The fabrication process proceeds with passivation layer depositionand patterning if passivation is required for providing necessaryreliability. The top surface may now be solder plated for solderattachment, if that is the method of connecting to the source leads. Thefabrication processes is completed with backside grinding and metaldeposition to complete the structure. An implant may be used in the backto improve contact and an alloying step may be performed if needed.

Referring to FIGS. 5A to 5E for an alternate “poly-last” process flow tofabricate a basic DMOS cell. In FIG. 5A, the fabrication process startsby growing an initial oxide layer 115 on a top surface of an N-epi layer105. An active mask is applied to etch a portion of the oxide layer 115to define the implant block for the active cells and the terminationguard ring. The fabrication process continues with an N-type JFET(junction field effect transistor) ion implant, e.g., an arsenicimplant, and a P-type ion implant to form the body region. A mask may beneeded to keep the body implant out a the channel stop area of thetermination. A diffusion process is then carried out to diffuse anddrive the N+ source region 110 and the p-body region 120 into the EPI105. In FIG. 5B, a source mask is applied to carry out an N-type ionimplant to define a plurality of N+ source regions 125. The sourceimplant mask is used to pattern the N+ area within the cell, and keep itaway from the device periphery. In FIG. 5C, a mask is employed to stripoff the oxide layer 115 from the active area. Alternatively blanket wetetch process may be used if oxide is not needed in the termination topsurface. In FIG. 5D, a gate oxide layer 135 is first grown followed bydepositing a polysilicon layer 130 and patterning the polysilicon layerinto a plurality of polysilicon gate 130 for the DMOS cells and to formgate bus and the termination structure. It may use a Poly/Silicidestack, or Poly/W film with this process for low resistance gateelectrodes. Alternatively, a silicide process using a spacer betweengate and source may be incorporated at this point. In FIG. 5E, aninter-layer dielectric layer 135, e.g., a BPSG layer, is deposited onthe top surface followed by applying a contact mask to remove portionsof the passive layer 135′ to provide openings on the passivation layer135′ to allow for contact to the source legions 125 and the gates 130.The contact mask is further configured to remove a middle portionbetween the gates 130 such that the source metal 140 is disposedimmediately next to the gate-insulating layer 135′ wherein the gate 130provides a central opening to allow a source metal 140 to penetratetherein. A metal layer is then deposited on top followed by applying ametal mask for defining the source and gate metal 140 and 150respectively. As shown in FIG. 5E, the termination area further provideswith a channel stop where a drain metal 160 penetrates into an etchedopen space of a polysilicon layer 130-T by applying the contact mask inthe termination area. The fabrication process is completed withpassivation layer deposition followed by a passivation etch and abackside metal deposit process similar to that described for FIG. 4E.

Referring to FIGS. 6A to 6G for an alternate “poly-first” process flowto fabricate a planar MOSFET of this invention. In FIG. 6A, thefabrication process starts by growing an initial oxide layer 115 on astop surface of N-Epi substrate 105. An active mask is applied to etch aportion of the oxide layer 115 to define an active area followed by anN-type JFET (junction field effect transistor) ion implant, e.g., anarsenic implant, and applying an elevated temperature to drive down theN region 110 into the substrate 105. In FIG. 6B, a gate oxide layer 135is shown that is grown through a thermal oxidation process. Then, apolysilicon layer 130 is formed followed by applying to poly mask todefine as plurality of polysilicon gate 130 on the top surface. In FIG.6C, a body implant with P-type ions is carried out with special bodyblock 133 to keep the body dopants out of the gap 134 in the poly layer130. The process proceeds with a body diffusion for driving the P-bodyregion 120 with an elevated temperature. A thin oxide layer 135 coveringthe top surface is grown during the body diffusion process. In FIG. 6D,a thin nitride layer 135″ is deposited over the top surface. A sourcemask 138 is applied to etch the thin nitride layer then carry out anN-type ion source implant followed by source diffusion to form the Nsource regions 125. As shown in FIG. 6D, the mask 138 also keeps thesource dopants out from the polysilicon gap 134. In FIG. 6E, anoxidizing source drive is used to grown a thicker oxide 139 with athickness of approximately 500 A-5000 A in the regions not covered bynitride. This oxide will serve as the interlayer dielectric, so adeposited film is no longer needed. In FIG. 6F, contacts 142 are openedand patterned to the active cell and gate poly 130. The P+ contactimplant is performed it is shallow enough not to penetrate theoxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) stack in the area 134 between the poly gatesegments 130. A mask will be needed if the contact implant energy willcause the dopant to penetrate through this dielectric layer. In FIG. 6G,the metal is deposited, on the device and patterned to form the sourcemetal 140 and gate metal 150. The fact that the dielectric layer 135′and 135″ separating the gate poly 130 from the interposed shieldingsource electrode 140 is an ONO stack improves the device reliability. Inthe above process, nitride layer may be left over much of thetermination if it is desirable for enhancing reliability. This may allowone to skip the final passivation step.

Referring to FIG. 6D-1 as an extension of the process shown in FIG. 6Dwhere a nitride spacer 135″-S formed around the edges of gate 130. InFIG. 6E-1, an oxide layer 139′ between the nitride spacer 135″-S isformed during a source diffusion process with an elevated temperature.This oxide will serve as the interlayer dielectric, so a deposited filmis no longer needed. In FIG. 6F-1, contacts 142 are opened and patternedto the active cell and gate poly 130. The P+ contact implant isperformed as a shallow implant not to penetrate the oxide layer 139′between the poly gate segments 130. The processes as shown in FIG. 6D-1to 6F-1 are simple extension of the processes shown in FIGS. 6D to 6F touse a nitride spacer formed is on the poly edges instead of a poly film.This spacer may be formed after the body drive or after source implant.

Referring to FIGS. 7A to 7G for an alternate “poly-first” process flowto fabricate a planar MOSFET of this invention. In FIG. 7A, thefabrication process starts by growing an initial oxide layer 115 on atop surface of N-Epi substrate 105. An active mask is applied to etch aportion of the oxide layer 115 to define an active area followed by an Nion JFET (junction field effect transistor) implant e.g., an arsenicimplant, and applying an elevate temperature to drive down the N region110 into the substrate 105. In FIG. 7B, a gate oxide layer 135 is shownthat is grown through the above diffusion process. Then, a polysiliconlayer 130 is formed followed by applying a poly mask to define aplurality of polysilicon gate 130 on the top surface. In FIG. 7C, a bodyimplant with P-type ions is carried out followed by a diffusion processfor driving the P-body region 120 with an elevated temperature. TheP-body implant is carried out with special body block to keep the bodydopants out of the gap 134 in the poly layer 130. In FIG. 7D, a sourcemask is applied to early out an N-type on source implant followed bysource diffusion to form the N+ source regions 125. Again, the sourcemask is specially configured to keep the source dopant out of the gaps134 in the poly gates 130. In FIG. 7E, an oxide layer 136 to grown bythermal oxidation or low temperature deposition or combination of both,followed by deposition of a thin nitride layer less than 500 A servingas an etch stop layer 137. In one embodiment the nitride layer is100-250 A. A thick layer of BPSG 139 is deposited on top of the nitridelayer 137 followed by wet etch to remove the BPSG from the active area.In FIG. 7F, the nitride layer 137 is stripped followed by applying acontact mask 148 for carrying out a contact etch to pattern the contactopenings 149. A contact implant is carried out. In FIG. 7G, a metallayer is deposited followed by applying a mask for etching andpatterning a source metal 140 and gate metal 150. FIG. 7F-1 shows avariation of FIG. 7F the BPSG is left over the active area contactregion. That will lead to device with the structure as in FIG. 7G-2 as avariation from the structure shown in FIG. 7G.

In above-described processes, in order to round the top corner of thePoly gate electrode 130 to minimize gat-source leakage and maximizeoxide rupture voltage, various techniques may be applied. Thesetechniques may include the following options:

-   -   Pattern transfer to the Poly using a slope in the resist top        corner    -   A small Isotropic etch of the Poly top corner, 2-5 times of the        gate oxide thickness    -   Use a 500 A oxide only top of the Poly. Subsequent source        re-oxidation will round of the top corner of the Poly. This        corner rounding allows the thinnest films to be used between        gate and source, without degrading Vgsmax beyond the limit set        by the gate oxide.

The oxide thickness between the gate and source electrode is accuratelycontrolled using a sacrificial nitride process thus:

-   -   A controlled oxide is either grown during the body or source        drive, or deposited on the wafer (or a combination).    -   This oxide is covered by a thin nitride layer.    -   If it is desirable to have BPSG covering the termination area        for better reliability, that film is deposited next. A mask is        applied and it is wet etched with which leaves the nitride        untouched.    -   The nitride may now be wet stripped for all the areas not        covered with BPSG without affecting the well controlled        thickness of the underlying oxide.    -   It may not be necessary to stripe the nitride, if it is ink part        of the dielectric stack.    -   Next, we proceed with the contact formation and metal deposition        as in the other processes.    -   Given that both a nitride and BPSG film exist over the        termination, it may now be possible to skip the passivation        step.

Referring to FIGS. 8A to 8C for an alternate “poly-last” process flow tofabricate a planar MOSFET of this invention. After completing thefabrication processes similar to that shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C. FIG. 8Ashows a gate oxide layer 135 is first grown followed by depositing apolysilicon layer 130. The poly silicon layer 130 is patterned using anoxide hardmask 135. The oxide hardmask will be kept in place to reduceCiss. In FIG. 8B, a thin oxide layer 135′ is grown on the polysiliconsidewall to serve as the dielectric between the Poly andsource-shielding plug. A nitride spacer 135″ is formed by LPCVDdeposition and etch back to protect the sidewall. A wet oxidation isperformed to thicken the oxide layer 135 over the contact and betweengate Poly areas 135″ to the desired thickness. Then the spacer nitride135″ may be stripped, or if a greater thickness and reliability isdesired, left in place. This nitride-oxide sequence can be skipped ifthe thin oxide grown is adequate for the design. In FIG. 8C, a contactmask is applied to etch and pattern the contact followed by thedeposition and patterning of the metal layer as the processes as thatdescribed in FIG. 5E above. Clearly, most of these processing flowsemployed to keep a thin dielectric between the gate polysilicon openingsover the drain epitaxial layer 110 and source electrode 140 penetratingbetween the opening etched in the center of the gate polysilicon forforming an effective Cgd shield can be transferred between the “Polylast” and “Poly first” process as described above.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of thepresently preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that suchdisclosure is not to be interpreted as limiting. Various alterations andmodifications will no doubt become apparent to those skid led in the artafter reading the above disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that theappended claims be interpreted as covering all alterations andmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A method for manufacturing a power MOSFET device in asemiconductor substrate comprising: implanting a JFET (junction fieldeffect transistor) region of a first conductivity type in an upperportion of the semiconductor substrate followed by growing a gate oxidelayer on a top surface of the semiconductor substrate then depositing agate layer on top of the gate oxide layer followed by applying a gatemask to etch and pattern the gate layer into a plurality of planar gateson the top surface of the semiconductor substrate wherein each of theplanar gates is patterned into two split gate segments separated by asegment gap; implanting body regions of a second conductivity type inthe upper portion of the semiconductor substrate with a top surface ofthe body region surrounding a bottom surface of the planar gate followedby applying a source mask to implant source regions encompassed by thebody regions; depositing an inter-layer insulation layer covering overan entire top surface of the MOSFET device wherein the insulation layerforming a dip slot over each of the segment gaps separating the splitgate segments wherein the dip slot vertically extending below a topsurface of the split gate segments; and applying contact trench mask foropening a plurality of source contact trenches and opening a pluralityof gate contact trenches through the inter-layer insulation layerfollowed by depositing a top metal layer and patterning the top metallayer into a source metal with the source metal filling the dip slots ofthe insulation layer formed between the split gate segments wherein thesource metal filling the dip slots vertically extending below a topsurface of the split gate segments.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: applying a metal mask for patterning the top metal layerinto a gate metal for contacting said planar gates through the gatecontact trenches.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of applyingthe contact trench mask for opening the source contact trenches furthercomprising a step of opening the source contact trenches to verticallyextend into an upper portion of the body and source regions for thesource metal to vertically extend into the source and body regions belowthe top surface of the semiconductor substrate.
 4. The method of claim 1wherein: said step of opening the source contact trenches comprising astep of implant a heavily doped contact region of the secondconductivity type below the source contact trenches for enhancing anelectrical contact between the source metal to the source regions andthe body regions.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein: said step of openingthe gate contact trenches through the inter-layer insulation layerfurther comprising a step of opening a drain contact trench through theinter-layer insulation layer in a termination area; and the step ofdepositing the top metal layer and patterning the top metal layer intothe source metal further comprising a step of patterning the top metallayer into a channel stop in the termination area with the channel stopvertically extended into the drain contact trench for electricallyconnecting to a drain of the power MOSFET device through thesemiconductor substrate.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein: the methodfor manufacturing the power MOSFET device further comprising a step ofmanufacturing said power MOSFET device as an N-channel MOSFET device. 7.The method of claim 1 wherein: the method for manufacturing the powerMOSFET device further comprising a step of manufacturing said powerMOSFET device as an P-channel MOSFET device.